Military plan would put women in most combat jobs, including Rangers, SEALs

View full size FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2012 file photo, female soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division train on a firing range while testing new body armor in Fort Campbell, Ky., in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan. Women may be able to begin training as Army Rangers by mid-2015, and as Navy SEALs a year later under broad plans Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is approving that would slowly bring women into thousands of combat jobs, including those in the country's elite special operations forces, according to details of the plans submitted to Hagel that were obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Women could be part of the Army Rangers in two
years and Navy SEALs in three under a plan to bring women into combat and
special operations forces jobs.

The plan, obtained by the Associated Press and
expected to be announced today, calls for women to meet the same physical and
mental standards as men to qualify for the jobs. The military services will begin reviewing the standard requirements for certain positions -- infantry, armor, commando and others -- and possibly changing them.

Under the proposed schedule, the Army will be the first to develop standards
to allow women to train and potentially serve as Rangers. Those standards are expected to be in place by July 2015. Women who qualify, will be able to train to be a Navy SEAL by March 2016, the story said.

Senior women
from the officer and enlisted ranks are expected to be the first to be brought into special forces units to build a support system for younger and lower-ranking women, the story said.